This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 199 50 7538 filed Oct. 21, 1999.
This invention is directed to systems for cooling one or more streams of fluid with air, and more particularly to such systems for use in vehicles.
Modern vehicles such as large trucks, include many fluid circuits that require removal of large amounts of heat during operation of the vehicle to achieve peak performance, long life and prevent breakdown of the vehicle. It is not uncommon in such vehicles to have a water-based cooling unit for cooling of the vehicle engine, one or more oil coolers for hydraulic circuits of the vehicle, an engine charge air cooling circuit, and one or more refrigeration units for providing air conditioning of the driver compartment and perhaps refrigeration of a cargo compartment of the vehicle.
As vehicles have become more powerful, and equipped with more systems requiring cooling, the volume of air flow necessary to provide cooling for these fluids has increased dramatically. Large fans are required to provide the necessary volume of air. As the size of the fans has grown, the demands on the structure of the cooling system for supporting the fan have grown as well.
At the same time as the size of the cooling loads and fans have been increasing dramatically, customers and government regulators are demanding improved efficiency and fuel utilization in vehicles. In order to meet these demands, it is highly desirable to make a cooling system as compact as possible, while maintaining overall ruggedness for environmental and servicing cost reasons, and to minimize both the original and life cycle cost of ownership.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved cooling system. Other objects of the invention include:
(1) providing an improved cooling system for use in vehicles;
(2) to provide a system which is compact in size, and of minimal weight;
(3) to provide a system having great flexibility to be tailored to the needs of a particular application; and
(4) a system of rugged straightforward construction.
Our invention provides such an improved cooling system through the use of a panel for mounting a plurality of at least three cooling units, a cooling fan, and a fan drive mechanism. The mounting panel supports the fan and drive mechanism in a manner allowing rotation of the fan about an axis of rotation. A front side of the mounting panel is adapted for receiving and supporting the cooling units in a pattern defining a housing in the form of a polygonal solid disposed about the fan. The mounting panel includes a convex central region extending into the polygonal solid housing mounting the drive mechanism and the fan.
By virtue of this arrangement, a very compact cooling system is provided. The polygonal shape of the cooling units defines an air duct for directing a flow of cooling air induced by the fan through the cooling units. Positioning the drive mechanism inside the convex central region of the mounting panel significantly reduces the length of the cooling system along the axis of rotation. All of the parts of the cooling system perform multiple functions, thereby contributing to simplicity of design, ruggedness of construction and operation, and minimal size and weight of the cooling system.
In one embodiment of our invention, the cooling assembly includes a front panel joined to the sides of the cooling units remote from the mounting panel. In a preferred embodiment, the front panel includes an inlet nozzle for directing air to the fan, and the air flow induced by the fan is directed radially outwardly through heat exchangers in the cooling units.
According to another aspect of our invention, the cooling system includes flow channels for connecting the cooling units, with the flow channels being mounted on a backside of the mounting panel. In some embodiments incorporating this aspect of our invention, the cooling channels are utilized to link together two or more cooling units which are part of the same fluid circuit. In preferred embodiments, the cooling channels are integrally formed in the mounting panel, to thereby add structural integrity to the mounting panel.
According to another aspect of our invention, the convex central region of the mounting panel terminates in an adapter plate for receiving the fan drive mechanism, and the mounting panel includes a number of corner connector regions equal to the number of cooling units. The mounting panel also includes a plurality of support struts extending between and integrally joining the corner connector regions to the adapter plate. In preferred embodiments according to this aspect of our invention, at least one of the corner connector regions of the mounting panel includes an aperture for passage of fluid between the cooling units and the flow channels. In some embodiments according to this aspect of our invention, the mounting panel includes cover segments between the struts which are removable from the remainder of the mounting panel to provide access to the interior of the cooling system.
In preferred embodiments of our invention, the mounting panel includes a round and a slotted mounting hole for fasteners joining each cooling unit to the mounting panel. The slotted mounting hole allows for thermal expansion and contraction of the cooling unit during operation. Other features, aspects and advantages of our invention will be apparent to those having skill in the art upon review of the attached drawings and the following detailed description.